LIVE MARKETS-Wall Street exits Fed week at all-time closing highs

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WALL STREET EXITS FED WEEK AT ALL-TIME CLOSING HIGHS

U.S. stocks closed modestly higher on Friday, claiming record closing highs at the conclusion of a week which saw the Fed's first rate cut of 2025.

The S&P 500, the Nasdaq and the Dow advanced, inching to fresh record closes, while the small-cap Russell 2000 eased from Thursday's all-time high, which was its first since November 2021.

All four indexes notched weekly gains, with the small-cap Russell 2000 bagging its seventh straight weekly advance.

FedEx FDX.N posted a 2.3% gain after the package delivery firm's quarterly results surprised to the upside, driven by strong domestic deliveries and cost-cutting efforts. Even so, the broader Dow Jones Transport Average index .DJT ended the session down 0.2%.

Lennar Corp fell 4.2% in the wake of the homebuilder's disappointing quarterly results posted late Thursday.

Speaking of homebuilders .SPCOMHOME, they joined energy .SPNY, housing stocks .HGX and regional banks .KRX at the rear of the pack, each index sliding more than 1%.

President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping had a phone chat, during which the leaders of the world's two largest economies made progress on a TikTok deal and agreed to a face-to-face meeting as soon as next month to iron out trade disputes.

Stateside, a stopgap spending bill, which would avert a federal government shutdown on Oct. 1, fell short in the Senate after its passage by the House of Representatives.

Next week in economic indicators, investors can look forward to S&P Global's advance "flash" PMI reading for September, new and existing home sales, durable goods, and the University of Michigan's final take on current-month consumer sentiment.

But the Commerce Department will be the star of the show, providing its third and final look at second-quarter GDP on Thursday, to be followed on Friday by its broad-ranging Personal Consumption Expenditures.

Things will be fairly quiet on the earnings front, with Micron Technology MU.O and Costco COST.O expected to report, along with a smattering of others.

Here's your closing snapshot:

(Stephen Culp)

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